A Gay Man Is Still A Man, Whatever The Pope Thinks

The Pope, it turns out, is Catholic. You’re not surprised by this, you’re a knowledgeable sophisticated person, but some reports of one of his Christmas messages have been rather startling.

“The essence of a man lies in his binding himself to a family, meaning a woman and some children,” he said.

He waved the ghost of Simone de Beauvoir at us and warned us of the terrible danger that lies in thinking that gender and sexuality are choices that we can make for ourselves. Being a woman is not something you’re born with, it’s something you become, said de Beauvoir. I guess she meant men too.

“The profound falsehood of this theory and of the anthropological revolution contained within it is obvious,” said Pope Benedict in his message.

So far, so Catholic. The Pope believes that a man is a thing made by God to do a particular thing. It’s no great surprise that he thinks that gay marriage goes against this big plan and that to do so is to take yourself away from being human. Like all Roman Catholic priests, the Pope decided that he wouldn’t have a family.

He was talking to the Roman Curia, the governmental body of the Roman Catholic Church, a large room full of other men who have avoided families, women, sex, children and all the other things that are supposedly under attack.